Teena Perfume x David Capra

Eau de Wet Dogge is an extension of Teena’s Bathtime, a project commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia for the Jackson Bella Room. In Teena’s Bathtime, Capra encourages members of the public to help give his five-year-old sausage dog a wash. Inviting physical and sensory engagement, the project is informed by Capra’s interest in animal assisted therapies. Describing himself as an ‘intercessory artist’, Capra looks at ways of prompting healing experiences for individuals and community. Capra explains “there’s a fanciful element to my work, and an accessible element. The more I think about healing, I think it entails facilitating projects that give people your undivided time. I think healing will occur in those circumstances.”

In 2013 Capra invited the public to dance alongside Teena in a throne room inspired by the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz (Workout, Museum of Contemporary Art). His work titled Birthing Things in the Spirit: The Water Birth, involved a synchronised swimming performance with locals at Eaglevale Pool and focused on making the notion of friendship tangible (Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2014). The performance piece Ministry of Handshakes (Tiny Stadiums Festival, 2013) saw Capra greeting the public with a 2 meter prosthetic arm inspired by encounters with Elizabeth, a woman who moves through Sydney trains and shakes commuter’s hands. Last year, Capra worked on a dance project with munchkin actor Betty Ann Bruno that explored his interest in munchkins, both as a fictional and real life community of actors in the classic Wizard of Oz film.